The Culture-Oriented Mental Health Practice of Bicultural Professionals

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Background: Information about cultural practitioners in mental health tends to be high level and generic in Australian diversity policies and frameworks. In Victoria, their work is rarely acknowledged. Aim: The Study enquired directly of professionals who assist people experiencing mental health or emotional issues with whom they share a similar cultural, linguistic or faith background, or recent migration or refugee stories, in order to characterise these individuals and their work, explore their perspectives, and develop theory that explains their practice. The data were generated during 2015 and 2017. Methodology: This qualitatively-led mixed method study used a constructivist grounded theory methodology. 44 individuals completed an online survey and 19 of this group were interviewed. The analysis was iterative and used constant comparison. Findings: Professionals were diverse in their countries of birth, ancestries and languages spoken, and most were born overseas. Nearly all held health, psychology of welfare qualifications, although this did not always confer status. Three cultural responsiveness principles were especially important to their practice approach: acknowledging cultural diversity, offering marginalised communities spaces of sanctuary, and utilising cultural perspectives. Speaking a shared language could enrich interpersonal encounters with service users and enhance community engagement. Several participants described feeling excluded at work or experiencing racism from colleagues and service users.